The latest domino in the News Corp. phone hacking scandal has fallen on this side of the pond: Les Hinton, CEO of Dow Jones and Co., which publishes The Wall Street Journal, told the paper that he is resigning. The AP has confirmed the news with Dow Jones.

Hinton was the head of News International, which oversaw the News Of World, when the phone hacking allegations arose.

Hinton's strategy has been to keep his head down," said Murdoch's biographer and editorial director of Adweek, Michael Wolff. "But he can't do that for much longer. This is a classic domino effect."

Claire Enders, a media analyst in London, said questions were bound to be asked about Hinton's role: "How the culture emerged at News of the World while he was head of News International, and what if anything he knew about the 2007 report into its activities, will emerge."

The AP adds:

Hinton said in a statement that he was "ignorant of what apparently happened" but felt it was proper to resign. He apologized for the hurt caused by the actions of journalists who worked for the now-shuttered tabloid, News of the World.

Earlier today, as Mark reported, there was news that Rupert Murdoch was readying a letter to be published into millions of British newspapers in which he apologizes to British readers.